New York State looks enviously at its neighbor. New Jersey has just legalized recreational cannabis the day after April 20, and many residents of the Big Apple will not hesitate to go and buy their favorite products a few kilometers from home. Because New Jersey partly forms the great suburbs of New York City. And legalization in theEmpire State take small steps.
“Congratulations to New Jersey, they’ve done it, they’ve started sales, and I know people are excited. I hope we will follow in their footsteps soon”declares the new head of the New York Cannabis Control Board (CCB), Tremaine Wright.
On the progress side: it hopes to open the stores in 2023 or, in the best case, at the end of 2022. For the time being, it has already granted its first licenses. 52 hemp growers have been given the green light to produce THC-dominant cannabis. The others have until the end of June to apply.
The new mayor of New York City is also helping out, since he has just released 5 million dollars to help new cannabusinesses to navigate in this new post-legalization world.
Priority to people convicted of cannabis
Side delay: the licenses to sell cannabis have still not been opened. The state takes time, because it wants to be sure that the legalization of the plant benefits those who have suffered from this prohibition. Wright will prioritize these clearances to cannabis-convicted individuals with entrepreneurial experience.
Recently, a survey of Los Angeles Times showed that only 8% of license applications in California went to these people. A model that especially does not want to reproduce New York, theater of the “war on drugs” in the 1980s.
The CCB is also wasting time fighting a “grey market”. Indeed, the state officially legalized cannabis in April 2021… but it is still prohibited to sell it. Incomprehensible to some traders, who sell these products in public places, according to MJBizDaily.
“It’s illegal to sell THC products at the moment, we need everyone back in the regular market. Because our consumers need to know that these products are tested and validated”warns Tremaine Wright on FOX5.
